Introduction

Katrina's Impacts

While officially classified as a nature disaster, the induced social trauma and devastation wake of hurricane Katrina in the 2005 had particularly profound impacts on New Orleans' communities of poor and working-class African Americans. The accelerated dismantling of social services and resources in realms of public housing, healthcare, transportation, and education and ensuing urban gentrification worked to displace and further marginalize black New Orleanians while contributing to the making of a whiter and wealthier post-Katina New Orleans. African Americans continue, however, to recover, heal, and reconstitute community through vernacular cultural practices such as second line parades and the Mardi Gras Indian tradition.